Foreign
by sparzelli
Summary: When Leon met Yuffie.


**A/N: **Inspired by _But That Was in Another Country_ by Guardian1. Makes me cry, just a bit.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything Final Fantasy related.

* * *

**Soundtrack: **Black Balloon; Goo Goo Dolls

The first thing he notices is her icy gray eyes. He can tell they used to be a brilliant stormy color, but they have long faded into a dull pain that seems to linger in everybody's eyes nowadays. They stare at each other and take in the tattered clothing, unwashed hair and scratched up skin. He notices the frayed headband and tattered buckle, the remnants of stockings and faded colors. They give each other the silent treatment until she breaks and the corners of her lips twitch upwards into the tiniest of broken smiles-_the tiniest bit of happiness that she'd ever hope to have. ­_

Where are you from, he asks. She shrugs. Planet, she says. Born and raised in Wutai.

He gives her a quizzical look but opts not to speak, for now. She cocks a hip and wraps her arms over her chest. The simple movement looks like a child trying to shield itself from monsters under its bed. He wonders how old she is, because she looks _so so young_ for tragedy-_his same tragedy almost_-to befall her.

Planet? What are you talking about?

She stares at him. The headband tries to fall off her head but she stubbornly pushes it back up, catching a piece of hair with it. He wants to smile at her, but it feels so out of place-for him, for the situation, for this strange and alien world that he thinks neither of them belong in. It's not their world, it's _His_. It's _Theirs. _The world they are stuck in, full of places with strange names like Twilight Town and Destiny Islands and Traverse Town, it's not theirs.

You know, Planet. The world?

He shakes his head and she frowns.

Did you hit your head, she asks?

He shakes his head no. He's not from here. He's not from Planet, either. He doesn't fit in. He's the _irregularity_ in the puzzle of this strange place.

What's your story, anyway?

I'm a Seed.

She giggles a little at him, despite what appears to be a serious situation.

Like, a plant? If it rains will you turn green and sprout? Into a flower?

He scowls. Get some respect, he retorts. I bet I saved your ass from corrupted sorceresses and you didn't even know it, kid.

She growls. Hey! Watch it! I bet I saved _your_ stupid ass from Meteor and _you_ didn't even know it!

What is…Meteor?

She shakes her head at him. Every sign, every confused expression and misunderstanding between them leads him to think that they are from different places. She is as much an alien as he is. This town is full of strange people from many different planets, he guesses, and he supposes that the two of them aren't any different. But it's funny, because he feels different. She _looks_ different. _What does it mean?_

She backs away a little and frowns heavily.

I'm not a kid, you know. I'm twenty. I'm a princess.

Are you, now.

Yeah, Princess of Wutai, Kisaragi Yuffie! You know, Da Chao, Leviathan, Godo? Ring a bell?

Leviathan does.

Alright! That's a start!

No, it's not. Were from different planets, he reveals.

She steps away again as he voices what he thinks both of them have been suspecting. That they're stuck in this foreign and strange place-_this stupid place with stupid names-_and he can't stand it. Can't stand what he did. He wonders how he got here, how what he did brought him here. What did _she_ do to get here? Was it equally horrible?

What's _your_ name, Seed?

He lets the ghost of a smirk cross over his face. _Squall_, he starts to say, but stops. He doesn't want his name anymore. He wants to be someone else. For eternity, maybe. If it helps to erase his past, helps to erase the Garden and Sorceresses and Rinoa_-_

Leon. My name is Leon.

Leon, huh. How did _you_ get here, Leon?

He eyes her worn face and icy eyes that are far too old for someone who's twenty-_far too old for anybody like her-_and spits it out. He supposes that with the string of events he got tied into he has every right to be blunt, to recreate himself. _Maybe_.

I killed people.

He leaves it at that. He doesn't want to specify. He doesn't want to tell this girl, princess, Yuffie, older-than-she-should-be stranger how he let strange black shadows overtake his friends even though he tried his hardest to save them. He doesn't think it's fair to tell how he let them die. _It's not fair to tell how I had to kill her._

Oh. Okay.

Silence stretches on like a worn piece of rubber.

Planet was overrun by black shadows, she says. Big ones, little ones, magic ones, physical ones, you name it and I've fought it. She tells her story like it's out of a book, with sweeping hand motions and facial expressions to match.

He winces.

We, my friends and I, tried to run. Tried our hardest. First to die was Barret…even though I least expected that bastard to die…and then Reeve, Reno, Rude, Elena, Nanaki, Shera, they even tore apart Cait Sith…

She takes a deep breath and her little chest puffs out. He thinks her ribcage is too prominent, her skin too pale and wrists too thin for a girl, princess, Yuffie, older-than-she-should-be stranger like her.

I watched them kill Vincent.

Of course, he has no idea who these people are. And if he was to tell her, she would have no idea who Zell, Quistis, Laguna, Selphie…_Rinoa…_she wouldn't know who any of them were.

He thinks this is the saddest part, maybe. That now the two of them are connected in a freakishly intimate way because of what happened to them and they don't even know each other at all. _Black shadows tend to fuck up lives, don't they?_

That's definitely the saddest part, he decides. The most unfair part.

Tears shine in her eyes and shiver mercilessly as she shakes and wills them not to fall. He thinks that this girl he barely knows is strong, _stronger maybe,_ than she lets on. Stronger than he can believe.

But that's life. I guess evil devours everything, eventually. Saving the world once isn't enough, she speaks quietly.

He silently agrees with her.

I think…I think Aeris is here. It never felt like she left…not _really,_ so maybe…she's here. And Tifa and Cid and and Cloud, oh _stupid dumbass Cloud-_

You know them?

She blinks rapidly at having been thrust out of her ramblings.

Yes. Are they here? Oh, gawd, that would make this so much damn _easier._

Cloud…wanders, searches. Tifa looks for him. Cid runs a shop. Aeris and I fight…the shadows.

The girl, Yuffie, frowns. It doesn't suit her face.

I believe they're called…heartless.

She grins briefly. Sounds appropriate. Why does Cloudy wander, anyway? What's he lookin' for? _If you know_.

Sephiroth.

What? No.

Yes.

We killed him.

He's here. He's a part of Cloud.

No!

Yes.

Oh gawd! On top of everything, he's back? She's shouting. He looks around nervously in case somebody, or something, is going to hear her. In case they're being watched from the black recesses of the town.

Her skin looks positively _white._ She manages to squeeze a small, strangling noise out of her throat before she slips away.

He catches her just as her legs give out and her eyes roll back. He thinks she's too light to be healthy. She's bony and poking him and he can't help but feel some misplaced affection for this slip of a girl as he holds her and looks down at her fluttering eyelids. Her eyelashes are as black as the demons he hunts, her eyes the deadened color of winter with a spark of sunlight waiting for the turn of spring. He smiles barely, on the inside, as his fingers play through her ratty, shoulder-length hair.

We should go back to the house. Once you get a bath and some food in you, we're going to see Merlin.

He stands and carries her bridal style down the street. She looks confused and her stomach growls at the mention of food. Sq-_Leon_ is sure he hears her muttering something about Arthur and crazy wizards before she loses consciousness once more.

* * *

It began to rain on the way home. He's soaked when he reaches the front door and he shakes his hair out like an animal.

He finds Aeris waiting inside for him. He senses her fear before she even opens the door and feels a pang of regret. She doesn't like being left alone during the day. A flurry of relief floods her face when she sees it's just him. A small and rusty clock sits alone on the wall, reading about 9:30. The skies flash a myriad of dark colors as he sets Yuffie down on the couch. He watches Aeris as she subconsciously reaches out to brush the hair out of the girl's eyes and beings to cry silently. She leans down and kisses her forehead and takes her hand. Leon wants to leave. The situation is too personal for his liking, too private a reunion for him to witness-_especially because it's under such sick circumstances._

He watches with arms crossed as Aeris wipes the grime from her old comrade's face. Once clean, he realizes the girl in question is really quite pretty-_even though she isn't Rinoa. _She looks subtly oriental with a grace, even in sleep, that is heavily masked by youth and personality. She looks like a cat person.

Why does he even care? For all he knows, she could have dozens of Angelos running around at home.

He closes his eyes. _This_ is her home now. The girls know each other; they'll stick together for sure. And Leon isn't going alone-not that he'll ever admit that openly.

There isn't going to be time to take her to Merlin tonight. He sighs and trudges up the stairs to take a bath himself and go to sleep. He supposes Aeris will wait with her until she wakes up and then run her a bath and they'll talk, gossip, whatever-_girls are strange creatures._ The ghost of a chuckle brushes over his vocal chords as he shuts the door to the bathroom.

* * *

That night he dreams he is a heartless and kills everybody he knows.

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End file.
